|
|
Article: Commentary: Neandertals and the thyroid gland; the selenium connection.
- Article from:
- The Geographical Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 American Geographical Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In an intellectually stimulating Geographical Review article on "The Iodine Factor in Health and Evolution" Jerome Dobson argues that "distinctive Neandertal skeletal traits are identical to those of modern humans who suffer from cretinism." He further proposes that "this new evidence, coupled with recent mitochondrial DNA findings, suggests that a single genetic alteration, which improved the ability of the thyroid gland to extract and utilize iodine, may account for differences between Neandertals and modern humans" (1998, 1). Clearly, if Dobson is correct, the key to understanding the Neandertal enigma is the operation of the Neandertal thyroid gland (Shreeve 1995).
...